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The government has cleared the first burial of a same-sex spouse of a veteran in a national cemetery, but it's far from certain how easy it will be for other gay military couples to win the same benefit.

A vigorous effort to house the homeless has been countered somewhat by a sluggish economy. The federal government and local communities have greatly increased the number of beds available to the homeless over the last four years, either through emergency shelters or through government-subsidized apartments and houses. But the struggling economy contributed to the number of homeless people in the United States remaining stable between January 2011 and January 2012.

Rep. Jeff Miller (R-Fla.), the chairman of the
House Veterans Affairs Committee, and Sen.
Richard Burr (R-N.C.), the ranking member of the
Senate committee, called on VA Secretary Eric
Shinseki to fire his chief of staff, John
Gingrich after an inspector general report said
he failed to ask the right questions before
approving two training conferences. The
conferences costs $6.1 million, with as much as
$762,000 in questionable spending.

In an Oct. 9 letter to VA Secretary Eric Shinskei, Sen. Susan Collins requested the agency disclose whether employees responsible for planning the two conferences held in Orlando, Fla., last summer, also worked on other conferences. In addition, Collins said she wants to know how much conference planners earned in bonuses and other awards for their work.

Two Veterans Affairs Department training
conferences held last summer in Orlando, Fla.,
contained as much as $762,000 in wasteful
spending and were plagued by poor planning and
oversight, according to an inspector general
report released Monday.